Quantum Photonics of a Microcavity Laser with Intracavity Biological Particles

The Biological Microcavity Laser (Biocavity laser) is a useful tool for rapidly assessing the health of populations or isolated biological cells and organelles. It uses bioparticles placed in or flowing through a micro/nano fabricated semiconductor laser cavity to enhance light-matter interactions. The intracvity bioparticle acts as index guide or lens to aid and control the lasing process. This hybrid semiconductor/biological laser has been used in 3 different regimes: geometrical limit, Mie, and Rayleigh limit where the bioparticle size is much larger, similar, and smaller than the wavelength of light it emits, respectively. As the cavity and particle size decrease, the light is constrained to exist in only one lasing mode, where quantum photonic effects become important. This talk will examine spatial, spatial, and temporal properties of light emitted from the Biocavity laser during operation across the 3 regimes as the particle size decreases. Included are experimental measurements of lasing threshold, power output, fluctuations in laser mode intensity, and laser spectral linewidth